Email Announcements We Are Receiving Today: See What’s Going On Around The Community

Published Monday, September 23, 2013 at 11:17 am

1) Trail Dedication Ceremony

A trail dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 10:30 a.m. for the newly constructed portion of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail on the grounds of the Museum of North Carolina Minerals, located on the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 331. The ceremony will feature members of the National Park Service, Overmountain Victory Trail Association and the Guilford Courthouse Fife and Drum Corps. The new section of trail follows the route taken by the Overmountain men through Lynn Gap during the Revolutionary War over 233 years ago. This event is free and open to the public.

2) Pianist Shagdaron Joins Appalachian Symphony Orchestra Oct. 4

Pianist Bair Shagdaron joins the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra for an Oct. 4 performance in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts at Appalachian State University. The free program begins at 8 p.m. The public is invited. Chung Park will conduct the orchestra. He and Shagdaron are members of the Hayes School of Music faculty. The program opens with “Vienna Philharmonic FanFare” by Richard Strauss. Shagdaron will perform “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in B-flat, K.595” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The program concludes with “Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68” also known as “Pastoral” by Ludwid van Beethoven, performed by the orchestra.

3) Early Music Strings Performs Sept. 27

The Hayes School of Music’s Faculty Performance Series at Appalachian State University will present a program of early music for string ensemble Friday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Recital Hall. Admission is free. Faculty members and graduate students performing will be violinists Nancy Bargerstock, Alice Silva and Amanda Gentile, violist Eric Koontz, cellist Kenneth Lurie and Corinne Cassini and guitarist Douglas James. The program is comprised of “Sonata a 4, senza cembalto” by Alessandro Scarlatti, “Chatony in G Minor, Z. 730 by Henry Purcell and “Quintetto IV in re maggoire, G. 448” by Luigi Boccherini.

4) Children’s Literature Symposium Registration Ends Nov. 1

Nov. 1 is the deadline for registering for the Children’s Literature Symposium to be held on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Appalachian State University. The symposium is designed to provide current teachers, librarians and education majors ways to use reading, creative writing and storytelling to excite their students about social studies, history and other areas. The symposium runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Reich College of Education at Appalachian. Registration is $20, which includes lunch. Teachers can earn 0.5 continuing education units for an additional $10 fee. The event is sponsored by Belk Library and Information Commons and the Reich College of Education. This year’s featured speakers are Joseph Bruchac, Joseph Bathanti and Edie Hemingway. Bruchac is a well-known American Indian author of children’s and young adult fiction. He writes historical fiction, contemporary fiction and re-writes folk tales. He also lectures on the importance of using traditional literature in teaching. He will deliver the symposium’s keynote address titled “The Timeless Value of Traditional Tales” and lead a session on teaching with myths and legends. In addition, he will present the free program “Stories and Songs of the Earth” on Friday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. at Watauga County Public Library. The public is invited to attend. Bruchac will also lead a program and workshop for students at Ashe County Middle School on Nov. 8. Bathanti is N.C. Poet Laureate and a professor of creative writing at Appalachian. He works with audiences from chilren to war veterans and prison inmates on creative writing. He will lead a session titled “Creative Writing: Imagining Yourself, Imagining Your World” focused on teaching creative writing in middle school. Edie Hemingway, author of “The Road to Tater Hill” will lead the session “Helping Your Students to Read as Writers.” She frequently leads workshops for those interested in writing children’s literature. Her talk will show how to use literature as a model for children’s own creative writing. “We hope symposium attendees will learn the importance of using multicultural literature in their teaching,” said Margaret Gregor, a librarian in Belk Library in Information Commons Instructional Materials Center. “Teachers are required to use the state’s common core standards, which emphasize reading and writing throughout the curriculum. These books just fit in with the scial studies curriculum so well,” said Connie Green, a professor of reading education in the Reich College of Education. “Being able to use them to teach about history, social studies and values is really important,” she said of Bruchac’s and Hemingway’s books.

5) Compositions for Wind Ensemble Performed Oct. 6

Compositions by Strauss, Bernstein, Holst and others will be performed by the Appalachian Wind Ensemble on Sunday, Oct. 6. Directed by Dr. John Stanley Ross, the ensemble will perform at 2 p.m. in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts at Appalachian State University. Admission to the event is free. The performance opens with Richard Strauss’ “Serenade, Op. 7” conducted by graduate student Brooke Humfield. Associate conductor Kevin Richardson will direct “Profanation” from Symphony No. 1 by Leonard Bernstein. The composition is based on the book of Lamentations in the Bible and depicts the general feeling of pagan chaos and destruction of Jerusalem. Ross will conduct “Funeral March for Richard Nordraak” by Edvard Grieg and “Concertino for Bassoon and Wind Orcheatra” by Jurriaan Anderisson. Grieg’s composition was written for the funeral of Nordraak, who was a composer in Denmark. The Andriesson composition will feature bassoonist Jon Beebe from the Hayes School of Music Faculty. Also on the program is Gustav Holst’s prelude and scherzo from “Hammersmith Op. 52.” The work was inspired by the Hammersmith neighborhood located in West London. The performance concludes with Frank Ticheli’s “Postcard,” commissioned as a tribute to the mother of H. Robert Reynolds who was principal conductor of the Wind Ensemble at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.

6) Avery Habitat for Humanity Autumn Mountain Classic – Oct. 14

On Oct. 14, Avery County Habitat for Humanity will host the inaugural Autumn Mountain Classic at the prestigious Elk River Club of Banner Elk. Elk River is a private community nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains and is rated as a top ten North Carolina golf course. The tournament format will be “One Best Ball of the Foursome” with prizes distributed to the first place gross team and 1st, 2nd and 3rd place net teams. As an added incentive, the last place team will also win a round of golf for four at Sugar Mountain Golf Course. The tournament costs $150 per player and includes a box lunch, beverage cart service, on course prizes and hors d’oeuvres at the award ceremony. The tournament is limited to the first 100 players to register, so sign up early to reserve your spot. The deadline is Oct. 1. To register for the tournament or for more information, please call Avery County Habitat for Humanity at 828-733-1909.

7) 2013 Business of the Year

We will recognize the 2013 Business of the Year at the Business After Hours hosted by Ameriprise Financial Services on Thursday, Oct. 17. Nominations for this year’s award and being sought from Chamber members and the community at large. Nominations must be submitted no later than Friday, Oct. 4.

8) Bhagavan Das Kirtan at St. Luke’s Church

Located at 170 Councill Street on Oct. 4 from 7:30-10:30 p.m. Tickets available at the Dancing Moon. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.

9) Second Annual Southeastern United Grape and Wine Symposium

Internationally renowned experts in Viticulture and Enology will be featured during the Second Annual Southeastern United Grape and Wine Symposium to be held Nov. 6-7 at the Shelton-Badgett North Carolina Center for Viticulture & Enology on the campus of Surry Community College. “This event will be a wonderful educational opportunity consisting of lectures and workshops to help wine makers and grape growers increase their knowledge base,” said David Bower, SCC Enology Instructor. “Our symposium, educational program and our partnership with VESTA (Viticulture and Enology Science and Technology Alliance) focuses its efforts on a technical education and training experience for those interested in the fields of Viticulture and Enology. Our symposium specifically targets the entire Southeastern United States with hopes of bringing regionally specific technical topics to light for those in our area.” The symposium is being coordinated by SCC and sponsored by VESTA along with media partner, Wines & Vines magazine, the North American wine industry’s oldest and largest publication and industry directory, which merged with Practical Winery Vineyard, the publisher of technical journals. VESTA is a partnership of 19 colleges and universities nationwide that deliver groundbreaking distance educational opportunities for the grape and wine industry. The event will include a Tour of NC Wines Lunch on Wednesday, Nov. 6, featuring 10 wines of the North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley along with a Lunch-n-Learn about food and wine pairing on Thursday, Nov. 7. The Grand Wine Tasting on Wednesday night at 5:30 will highlight wines of the Southeast complemented by light hors d’oeuvres and is open to the public for a non-conference rate of $20. To register for symposium or to see a detailed schedule, go to www.surry.edu or www.ncviticulturecenter.com/vesta/ . The registration cost prior to Oct. 12 is $75 and $100 after deadline.